Where's Clinton going to get funds?

Recently I saw the Hillary Clinton piece in the "Where they stand" section in this paper.

It is a brief overview of the different candidates' thinking on the most talked about issues.

Besides the common Democrat views on abortion, gun control and the war in Iraq were her plans for some other items that all included the words "tax" and "billions" in them.

Between global warming and education, her plans include the raising of $160 billion on top of a new $110 billion recurring per year amount for health care.

She also wants the government to match $1,000 for anyone who starts a new 401k plan as well as give a "pathway to citizenship" to illegal immigrants, many of whom would immediately go on welfare.

As far as her plans under the heading of "taxes" are concerned, she would plan on raising the taxes on the wealthiest and keep estate taxes in place.

I shook my head in kind of a "it figures" gesture and turned the page.

There was a section on the candidates' ideas to rescue the economy. Hillary's idea was to take $70 billion, the majority of which would go towards heating assistance and extensions on unemployment. The rest would be used to bail out people who got themselves into trouble with mortgages.

Next she would work on a plan to give tax "rebates" to lower-income families. She wants $70 billion but wants to refund taxes to lower income individuals.

These steps are not going to make the less fortunate wealthy but it sure will make the successful less wealthy and close the "inequality" gap a little bit. This might not qualify as strict socialism but it sure could be considered steps in that direction.

Marc Thomsen

Elk Grove Village